Dependency map
Where decisions, knowledge, relationships or execution still concentrate on specific people.
Paid Diagnostic
Find the operating gap before you fund the wrong fix.
The Valuation Gap Scan is an evidence-led diagnostic for founder-led companies that are scaling, professionalizing or preparing for a future transaction. It establishes what is actually holding the business back, what the evidence says, and what should change first before you commit to a six-figure operating engagement.
01The Decision
Before we recommend a larger build, we establish whether there is a problem worth fixing.
A sales call can create hypotheses. It cannot responsibly tell you which operating constraint deserves six figures of implementation spend. The scan exists to close that gap.
- 01Where is the business still structurally dependent on the founder or another key person?
- 02What is the binding operating constraint now?
- 03What evidence supports that conclusion — and what is still only an assumption?
- 04What is the economic or strategic consequence where it can be measured responsibly?
- 05What should change first over the next 30, 60 and 90 days?
02What You Leave With
A decision package, not a theatre deck.
Structural diagnosis
The primary operating constraint, secondary leverage areas and the evidence behind the judgment.
Process economics
Time, delay, rework, capacity or commercial exposure where the available evidence supports quantification.
30 / 60 / 90 roadmap
The smallest sequence of operating changes that should be tested first, with owners and proof criteria.
Clear recommendation
Build, defer, use another provider, or do nothing. The scan does not assume Tantalum should win the implementation.
03How It Works
Observe
Interview the people who actually run the work, inspect the relevant processes, systems, reporting and evidence, and separate facts from assumptions.
Diagnose
Trace recurring friction back to the structural constraint instead of treating the loudest symptom as the problem.
Quantify
Establish a baseline and model only the economics that can be defended. Use ranges and confidence rather than fake precision.
Decide
Choose what should change first, what should wait, and what evidence would justify a larger implementation.
04Boundary
What the scan is not.
It is not a formal company valuation, fairness opinion or promise of a future transaction multiple.
It is not a free discovery call dressed up as an audit. The work requires access, evidence and senior operating judgment.
It is not a predetermined pitch for AI, software or a Tantalum implementation. Technology appears only when it serves the diagnosed operating change.
And it is not required in every situation. Where a company already has unusually strong evidence and a clear intervention, the diagnostic can be compressed.
05Commercial Structure
Paid, fixed-scope, and useful even if the answer is “don’t build.”
The scan is scoped before kickoff. Timing and fee depend on access and complexity. The working intent is a short diagnostic that earns the right to a larger engagement only when the evidence supports one.